Dinoflagellates – Are You Tired Of Battling Altogether?
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I will also leave this here for anyone interested https://www.algaebarn.com/blog/phyt...4FJMQXWEtLACe5bh9Agu_LQ21mE5LcsIs4fVGSFqKDCLE ~Shaun K.
I can vouch for this I just bought ocean magik and it worked for me for my dinos on the sand bed I’m still having some dinos floating in the water column but I’m still dosing. Also added copepods.
Hello all,
I'm not exactly happy to join the club of "I'm battling dinos" but nice to meet you regardlessRelatively new to the site, as well as reefing. My short dino story:
1) New tank - noob reefer. As of today, tank is about 4 months old.
2) Got brown stuff on my sandbed - thought it was diatoms (noob reefer, I'm stupid)
3) Lasted months - was getting worse
4) Previously happy corals start showing signs of stress (zoas were the first to go)
5) ran a full battery of tests - discovered zero nitrates, made a post here about that
6) people here educated me that it probably was dinos - they were right
7) tank thereafter got really bad - large amphidinium dinos everywhere
After a lot of reading, I decided to not get too crazy with dosing products. I decided to do the following:
The strategy being to get nitrates up, and get some type of algae going to out compete the dinos. It's been a couple of weeks and I'm starting to see progress (it's been a despair filled time, and it only just started working the past couple of days). I've now got some green hair algae growing for the first time ever in the tank, and I also have what I believe to be some kind of "sea lettuce." My water got disgusting - like slimy smelly brown gross dumpster sewage water. Then in the last couple of days it's become crystal clear, and all the brown on the glass has turned white and died. I scraped the glass clean, and for the first time ever - it's not completely brown 1 hr after the lights turning on. My zoas opened up today for the first time in weeks - I'm kind of surprised they are still alive TBH. The rest of my corals have lost all signs of stress and look fat and happy with good extension.
- Raise the temp to 80F
- Double my feedings to twice a day
- Feed more during each feeding so there is uneaten food
- No water changes
- No disturbing the sand, not even vacuuming the top layer
- No cleaning of the glass, no blowing of the rocks, etc.
The dinos however, are not completely gone. They are still abundant on the sand bed, but not 100% coverage. Maybe 60%. They still completely disappear at night when the lights go out, and reappear on the surface within an hour of the lights coming on. But they don't clump anymore - they are back to the "dusting during the day" state. I can measure 1ppm of nitrate.
The reason for the post is 1) to contribute to the information sharing, and 2) to get some advice on next steps. Lots of information on how to start the battle, less so with respect to continuing the battle and preventing re-emergence.
I'll continue to test nitrates and not let it bottom out.
I'm thinking I'm going to do a 15% water change without disturbing the sand, and if I can keep my nitrates detectable, try to start a weekly water change schedule again. But I'm thinking about leaving all other things alone. Advice? Am I setting myself up for GHA issues? Other sandbed issues, etc? Am I fooling myself thinking I'm making progress - and the remaining dinos on the sandbed will reemerge and kick my butt some more tomorrow/next week?
- When should I start 10-20% water changes again?
- When should I start cleaning my sand again?
- What's the best practice for cleaning the sand knowing I've got dino issues in there? (stirring? Frequency? vacuuming the top? Vacuuming to the glass bottom on a small portion of the sandbed monthly?)
- Should I turn the temp back to 78? I'm thinking about just leaving it at 80 forever...
- When should I start culling the GHA, if at all? Honestly I don't care if that stuff covers the whole tank right now - it looks a million times better than a brown slime infestation
Thanks and keep fighting the good fight.
For LC Amphid, I think your approach thus far is suitable. They are ugly, difficult to rapidly remedy, but in the end non-toxic. Your relatively hands off approach is particularly good for new biomes. It is my informed opinion that intervening in new biome development is just extending the time it takes to mature. Just get some measurable nutrient in there and let the bacterias, algaes, and microfauna establish their space. Once they do -- and some nutrients stay steadily available -- dinos struggle to remain competitive. They just lurk there waiting for an opportune imbalance.
Kongar
Active Member
Thank you for the reassurance. It’s very difficult to be patient, especially when you’re watching it get noticeably worse every day. Because it’s LC Amphid and everyone says they are relatively non toxic, I decided they can’t hurt my tank as long as I keep nutrients from bottoming out. I’m trying to accept a reality where they never go away, and accept them as part of my tank. They can have a small piece of my reef, just not all of it.
Yeah the patience part is challenging but you are already demonstrating patience. Stay smooth with your inputs. If you can add more live rock, pods, mud, or fish do so gradually. Keep testing for PO4 and NO3. Unlike other dinos, there is no magic (big butt UV) bullet for these.
Jrainey312
Active Member
If dinos arent moving in microscope are they dead?
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Dead, or stressed and entered resting cyst phase, or they are one of the rarer types that moves very very little - or they aren't dinos at all.
Snoopdog
Valuable Member
I find it crazy I have went from feeding once a day to probably 4-6 times a day and my Nitrates and Phosphates are still bottomed out. I am dosing Flourish also, still bottomed out. Where is this stuff going? It has been two weeks. My tank 12 years ago always had Nitrates.
Jrainey312
Active Member
Well when i first saw them under the microscope they were moving now after adding a uv sterilizer and raising my no3 and po4 they werent moving anymore when i last looked at them
Once your rock and substrate get PO4 saturated, the water will have some residual. I dosed a liter of DIY PO4 before I could measure it in the water. It is not uncommon. Nitrates on the other hand do not bind to aragonite or ferris the way PO4 does.
Snoopdog
Valuable Member
That is some encouragement! This morning I finally registered PO4
dvgyfresh
2500 Club Member
I had dinos (I think) they were all over my rocks and would disappear at night and reappear during the day with lights on, I found doing just a 2 day blackout along with a bottle of biospora and microbacter 7 has seemed to beat over the Dino’s! They still exist as they have not been completely eliminated but I believe now over time other algae will take over - side note the anemones I have did not like the blackout and all moved during it but they are fine
While I cannot rule out that there might be more than one species, you certainly have ostreopsis. The swim pattern is a definite tell.
Snoopdog
Valuable Member
Have you quit water changes? Have you quit skimming?
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